La Cañada husband and wife accused of fraudulently collecting $1 million in life insurance
State investigators are accusing a La Cañada Flintridge couple of fraudulently receiving $1 million in life insurance benefits from a client of theirs who died from a terminal illness.
Peter Muh Kim, 39, and 35-year-old Jin Kyung Kim were arrested on Tuesday of three counts each of grand theft as well as three counts each of insurance fraud. The husband and wife are currently being held in lieu of $460,000 bail.
According to the California Department of Insurance, Peter Kim works as a licensed insurance agent and sold two policies to his wife. He is said to have also fraudulently listed his wife as the niece and beneficiary for one of his clients.
The state agency also alleged that Jin Kim purchased an additional life insurance policy for her husband’s client and listed herself as the sister and beneficiary of that person. The pair also failed to inform the insurance companies of the client’s terminal illness diagnosis when they took out the policies.
“The Kims allegedly misrepresented that Jin Kim was related to the insured in order to show insurable interest in the policies,” according to a statement from the state Department of Insurance.
The client died in July 2014 and the insurers paid Jin Kim over $1 million in life insurance proceeds.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
